


That Classic British Charm

by magentacartherwrites



Category: Sherlock (TV), Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Cooking, Dating, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, F/M, First Dates, Foreplay, Friendship/Love, Light Dom/sub, Love, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Pregnancy, Romance, Sex, Sexual Content, Shower Sex, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-29
Updated: 2014-10-18
Packaged: 2018-02-06 16:38:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1864923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magentacartherwrites/pseuds/magentacartherwrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>31 year old Amanda Richardson has just moved to London from her comfy life in America and is having trouble fitting in.  During a rather embarrassing display at the supermarket, Amanda accidentally stumbles upon the most sought after actor and bachelor in the world, Benedict Cumberbatch, who immediately becomes intrigued by her.  Amanda becomes smitten with Benedict as well over the time they spend together and yet she is completely clueless about who he actually is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Grocery Incident

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Guys! So this is my first "Real Life" Fanfiction so I decided to do it on my favorite person in the entire world, Benedict Cumberbatch... Fluff and Smut coming ahead so be warned... Don't forget to let me know what you guys think in the comments!!! <3

"Oh god," I muttered to myself, staring at the seemingly endless stocks of British snack foods. Never could I have imagined how hard it would be to find a simple package of plain tea biscuits. Chocolate, dark chocolate, honey, cream cheese, lemon, and custard... None of which were what I was looking for. My eyes scanned up and down the aisle I was in making sure that no one noticed how stupid and out of place I looked. I decided to stick with the honey flavor; at least the biscuits would mix well with the taste of my tea without overpowering it. I grabbed two packages and placed them in my grocery basket. Sighing to myself, I tuned my heel ready to head towards the checkout area when I was suddenly intercepted by a tall man that I bumped rather hard into. My basket slipped from my arm and fell to the floor with a resounding CRASH; the milk gurgled onto the floor from it's broken carton and my honey biscuits somehow found there way out of their package and scattered across the aisle. I quickly knelt to the floor trying to prevent the broken milk carton from spilling any more and the man I bumped into scrambled to the floor to help me.

"I am so, so sorry! I-I didn't see you," he stuttered as he failed to save the biscuits from getting soaked with milk. He picked up as many of the soggy cookies as would fit in his hands and stood up, his eye searching for the nearest trash bin.

"I-It's okay," I tried to say calmly, "Will you please go and find someone to mop up the milk?"

The man stopped suddenly and looked at me, "You're American?"

I wasn't sure how to respond to his random observation, "What? Yes, yes I'm from America. Sir, please hurry and find an employee!"  
He nodded his head as he shuffled down towards the front of the grocery store, a dripping trail of milk followed behind him as he disappeared from my sight. I picked up the rest of the biscuits that had been left and dropped them in their busted packaging. 

A few moments later, the man reappeared with an employee armed with a mop and trash bin. The man offered me his hand and I took gingerly as he raised me to my feet. I threw away the biscuit packaging and broken milk carton, apologizing profusely to the employee for the inconvenience. After the mess was cleaned and the aisle looked as it did before the incident, I finally was able to get a proper look at the man. He had striking, icy eyes that seemed to change color from blue to green and even gold. Auburn curls framed his angular face and prominently displayed his sharp, high set cheekbones. He wore a simple white shirt with a cozy looking cardigan and maroon jeans. I probably shouldn't have stared at him as long as I did, but I couldn't look away. There was something different about his looks... Something ethereal and almost inhuman.

"Again, I am so sorry."

His voice shook me from my trance, "Oh no, no, no it was my fault! I'm such a klutz and I wasn't paying attention. I'm sorry that I bumped into you."

"It quite alright," he chuckled to himself, running a hand through his hair, "I think your groceries suffered more than I did. I will pay for them by the way."

"Oh no, that's really not necessary. There was only a couple things and it-....."

"It's no trouble," he cut me off. He obviously wasn't going to take no for an answer, "If there wasn't a lot then there's nothing to worry about. What types of biscuits did you chose?"

"Honey. I was really setting out to find plain biscuits but alas," I said dramatically, "there are none to be found!"

"Hhm, I see your dilemma. If there really are no plain left in stock, then shortbread biscuit are the next best thing!"

He reached out to the shelf and grabbed two boxes of shortbread, placing them in my basket. I couldn't help but notice a bit of muscle hidden under his cardigan.

"The honey is also quiet good in my opinion," he said as he slipped another box into the basket. "Now, what's next... milk?"

"Uh, yeah" I replied, but he was already on his way to the dairy aisle.

"Wait," I said, trying to keep up with his long strides, "I don't know your name."

He stopped dead in his tracks and I almost bumped into him again. He turned to face me, a little red in the face from embarrassment, "Oh god, I am so sorry! Sometimes my mind runs away with me and I forget who it is that I'm talking to. My name’s Benedict!"

He offered me up his hand for a proper greeting and I shook it, "Amanda Robinson. So your just Benedict? No last name?"

"Of course I have a last name, I'm just not very partial to it. I just prefer to be called Benedict."

"Well it's very nice to meet you Benedict."

"Nice to meet you too... Amanda." He smiled warmly to me as he said my name then turned to continue walking. Luckily, the dairy aisle was all the way in the other side of the grocery store so I was able to talk a bit longer with Benedict, "So, what are you here shopping for?"

"I'm trying to pick out some wine to take to a dinner my good friend invited me to. I'm rubbish at choosing favorites so I can't decide which bottle to pick."

I seized the opportunity to repay him for paying for my groceries, "I'll help you pick a bottle after we get my milk."

"Really," Benedict said surprised.

"Of course!"

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We had reached the dairy aisle finally and I grabbed the 1% milk that I had chosen earlier.

"So sorry about that random comment earlier, Amanda, " Benedict said out of the blue, "Sometimes I don't have a filter and what I'm thinking will just slip out."

"It's okay. I'll admit, I was rather taken back by how random your question was."

Benedict blushed with embarrassment, "Yeah, I'm prone to spewing out stupid questions at random times. Something I'm trying to work on."

"Awww, I think it's cute," I smiled to him earning a small smile back.

"Well, as a follow up to the random 'you're an American' comment, mind if I ask what you are doing here in England?"

I looked over to him for a moment. He looked genuinely interested, "Well, there's nothing much to it really," I said, not even realizing that we were now in the liquor aisle; when did we get here? "I loved living back in America, but I just needed something different. I've always fantasizes about about living in Europe, even as a little girl."

Benedict smiled to me then turned his attention to the wine bottles before us.

"Which do you prefer, red or white wine?"

Benedict ran a hand through his hair again, it must have been a nervous habit of his, "Oh gosh, I like them both. But I suppose for this specific occasion that red wine would probably be best."

I raised my eyebrows approvingly, "Red wine it is...." I grabbed a bottle from the self and handed it to Benedict to inspect.

"Nice choice. Do you like this vintage?"

"I don't know. I've never tried it," I said nudging his arm playfully, "you said that you had trouble choosing favorites so I just picked one at random. I just hope that you and your friends like it."

"I'm sure they will," Benedict smiled as he looked down at the bottle.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Bloody things," Benedict cursed as he attempted to scan my biscuits and milk through the chip-n-pin machine, "they never work the first time!"

"Don't worry, they suck in America too," I said as I took the cartoon from his hands and scanned it through successfully.

"Alright, where's the wine?"

I grabbed the bottle in my basket but snatched it away from Benedict when he reached for it, "Uh, uh, uh. I am paying for this!"

He looked at me protestingly but I didn't waver. I scanned the bottle and slid my credit card through the machine as Benedict bagged our shopping. He handed me my biscuits and milk, "So, I suppose you'll be heading back home now."

"Yeah, I probably will," I said regrettably; I didn't want to go, "Thank you so much for the groceries, Benedict."

I held out my free hand and he shook it, "Thank you as well Amanda."

We smiled to each other as our hands parted.

"Well, goodbye."

I turned my heel and slowly began to walk away.

"Wait!"

Before I could even get to the door, Benedict ran up behind me and gently grabbed my wrist, surprising me.

"Amanda, wait! Listen, I-... would you like to come to my friend's dinner party? With me that is... as a friend."

"As a friend?" I said raising my eyebrows unsure, "We just met... what will you tell them?"

"I can think up a story," Benedict winked at me, "I am really imaginative."

I could feel the blush rising in my cheeks but I pretended not to notice, "I would love to come!"

"Great! I will pick you up around 7:00?"

Benedict produced a sharpie from his jean pockets (why would he be carrying one of those around?) and scribbled his number on my receipt in barley legible handwriting.

"Just text me your address. Little warning for you, I am prone to tardiness so if I'm not there right on time, don't think I've forgotten you, okay?"

"Alright," I said as I took the receipt from him, "I guess I'll see you around 7:00!"

"Brilliant! See you then."


	2. Dinner with Benedict

6:11 p.m. and I still wasn't dressed! I was greeted with a cold chill as I stepped from the shower and wrapped my body in a towel, my wet hair dripping onto the floor of my flat. I immediately grabbed for my phone and reached into my pants pocket, searching for the receipt with Benedict's number on it. Once I had found it, I texted Benedict my address and asked what would be appropriate to wear. My hair was still soaked from the shower so I plugged in my hair dryer and began drying it while trying to simultaneously put on my makeup. 10 minutes later, I heard the buzzing of my phone and I grabbed for it to find that Benedict had texted me back...

Great, you don't live that far for me so I shouldn't be too late. Casual wear is fine, this isn't a fancy diner. -Ben

Casual wear, I could do that! I decided on a purple silk tank-top with a button-up vest over it, black skirt, and my favorite pair of flats. Probably not the best outfit for a 31 year old woman to wear to a dinner party but this was the best I could do for the limited time I had. Just as I finished applying a minimal amount of makeup to my face, I heard a knock on my door. Excitedly, I hurried to the door and opened it to find Benedict standing there smiling at me, still wearing the same mismatched outfit from the grocery store.

"Wow," he said looking me up and down, "You look really nice!"

I tried my best to stifle a laugh, "I'm in a tank top and skirt Benedict...."

"I know, you look good in them!"

"Right then... changing the subject completely, you sir are three minutes late," I said with a joking voice.

"I'm so sorry about that, Amanda! I really did try to be here on time,"Benedict stuttered nervously, "So are you ready to head out?"

"Do you have the wine?" I asked, just to make sure that he didn't forget.

"Yep! It's in the car."

"Alright then. Ready when you are!"

We walked down the stairs of my flat and made it out to the street where a small, sporty looking car was parked. Benedict walked ahead of me to open the door, "Thank you, my good sir," I said as he held my hand and guided me into the car.

He made his way round the car and got in, buckling himself in and starting the car rather quickly; we must have already been late.

"This is a really nice car, Benedict," I said as he pulled smoothly out into the main street.

"You like it? It's a Jaguar, a very British type of car."

"It must've cost you a fortune!"

"Actually no, not really. I have a partnership of sorts with the company that produces the Jaguar brand and they gave me this car as a payment for a job I did for them. I still have to pay for gas, but the overall cost of the vehicle, inspections, insurance, anything like that the company covers. They are very generous."

"That's amazing," I said earning a smile from Benedict even though his eyes were focused on the road.

We drove in silence the rest of the ride until we reached our destination. A quaint, beautiful house stood before us with a lovely front yard decorated with every color of flower and neatly trimmed hedges. Benedict helped me out if the car and hooked his arm around mine playfully as we strolled up the cobble pathway to the front door; the tune of "We're of to see the Wizard" hummed on my lips. Benedict rapped on the door softly only to be instantly opened as if someone had been waiting for us.

"UNCLE BEN!"

Suddenly, two young children excitedly burst through the door and charged full speed towards Benedict,wrapping their little arms around his long legs almost causing him to topple over and break the wine bottle. It was a boy and a girl that both looked younger than five years old and both had blonde hair

"Hey kiddos," Benedict beamed as he effortlessly picked up the little girl and held her in his free arm, "you look more and more like your mum every day, Grace!"

"Daddy says I look more like him than mummy," Grace said with her sweet little voice as she tugged lightly on Benedict's curls.

"Well, you know how your daddy is. He loves to mess with you!"

"I've missed you Uncle Ben," The little girl said as she placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

"I've missed you to sweetie!"

Benedict lowered Grace to the floor and knelt down himself to hug the young boy waiting patiently for his turn, "How are you doing, Joe? Have you been taking care if your sister and parents for me?"

"Yep, I've been helping Grace learn how to ride her tricycle and I've been getting all A's so far this year!"

"Are you really? That's my big man!"

I couldn't help but smile at how at ease Benedict seemed to be with the children. I imagined that he would make an amazing father one day.

A sudden voice calling from inside of the home broke my concentration, "BENEDICT!"

At the sound of the voice, Grace an Joe scattered back into the house as a figure approached us.

A petite woman with short blond hair, blue eyes, and a bright smile burst through the door and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek in greeting, "Oh, it's been a while since you were last here!"

"So sorry, been incredibly busy. Flown out of country three times in the past five months!"

"Goddess, they are working you rugged Ben. I'm surprised you haven't gotten sick from all of the stress. You seem to be everywhere at once and you haven't had a break in the longest time," the woman said as she cupped his face in her hands, "Oh well, your home now and that's all that matters. The table is set and dinner's all ready to go. Really hope your hungry."

"Yes ma'am, I certainly am! And I also brought this for you guys." Benedict said as he displayed the wine bottle to her, "Thought it would help us celebrate."

"There's always need to celebrate when you come home!"

The woman spoke to Benedict in the loving and caring way that a mother would to a child, even though she was clearly just a few years older than him, and it was, for lack of a better term... adorable! I was so engrossed in watching the two of them conversing that I didn't even realize that the woman was looking directly at me, as of waiting for me to talk. Benedict seemed to take notice as well because he immediately stepped from her embrace and walked over to me, wrapping his arm innocently around my waist to introduce me.

"Amanda," he said making direct eye contact with me, "this is Amanda... Amanda Abbington!"

The other Amanda's eyes suddenly lit up, "Oh, well that shouldn't be very hard to remember at all!"

She approached me and brought me in for a hug as she placed a kiss on either side if my face, in a greeting that I had become accustom to in my time spent in England. I caught a whiff of a sweet vanilla raspberry fragrance and made a mental note to ask her later what brand of perfume it was.

"So where's Martin?" Benedict asked leaning forward to look through the front door.

"Oh he's probably making sure the children don't get into the food. They've already eaten their diner so they won't be intruding in on us. MARTIN? Martin, sweetheart? Come to the front porch!"

"Why?" A voice suddenly called from within the house, "Has the bastard finally decided to show up?"

The voice grew louder as the man came into view and he was not at all what I was expecting! He was short, about the same height as the other Amanda, with short grey hair, a serious face, and expressive blue eyes.

"You wanker!"

He walked straight for Benedict and I nearly thought that he was going to sock him in the face but instead, his eyes crinkled with a smile and he brought him in for a hug.

"How have you been Benedict? Has JJ been working you like crazy?"

"You have no idea," Benedict chuckled as he held on to Martins shoulder, "First California, then Japan, and now back home!"

"God," Martin sighed.

Amanda cleared her throat to draw the attention of the men as she gestures to me, "Martin, this is Ben's friend, Amanda... Amanda....?"

"Robinson," Benedict finished for her. I couldn't believe he actually remembered my last name. Most people could barley remember first names!

"Nice to meet you Amanda," Martin smiled at me, "well let's not stand around out here. Come on in!"

He held the door open for Benedict, Amanda, and I as we all piled into the house.

"So sorry about the mess," Mrs. Abbington apologized as she ushered me quickly into the dinning room, obviously trying to avoid me from seeing the disarrayed living room, "the kids have been playing and have yet to pick up."

"Oh, it really alright," laughed reassuringly, "I'm a bit unorganized myself. Even when I try to clean my flat, days later it'll end up looking just as messy as before."

Benedict chuckled as helped to seat me, conveniently placing me right next to him. Amanda disappeared into the kitchen and returned a moment later with four wine glasses in her hands. She distributed the glasses amongst us and took a seat along with Martin across from Benedict and I.

The blessing was said and the food was dug into and it was all delicious. Benedict reminisced about his recent trip to Japan as he finished off his the only glass of wine he would have that night. He vividly described to us about the beautiful sites he visited, the wonderful people he met, all the delicious new foods he tried. Martin and Amanda got him up to date on all that had happened back here in London while he was away; sports statistics, the decent weather we had been having, and even their review of a play that they had seen together at the National Theater. I remained quiet, sometimes dropping in my two cents when asked a question or my opinion on a topic, but mostly just watched and listened to their conversations. Hearing them talk so passionately about the different topics, even the relatively normal ones like the weather, was so fascinating to me and I didn't want to interrupt it.

But eventually my time came to shine as Amanda asked me how I knew Benedict.

"We met a couple weeks ago at the grocery store. I was trying to pick out biscuits and we kind of ran into each other, quite literally."

"It was entirely my fault," Benedict interjected, "We made quite a mess. Then after that, we just kept in touch."

Benedict didn't waver or break character for moment and if I didn't know that he was telling a white lie, I would have believed his story.

Dessert and another round of drinks went around as I lamented about my life in America, my family and friends, and my decision to move to London. Benedict watched me with interest the entire time I talked, seeming to soak in all of the information I was spewing out about my seemingly average life.

My story of how I got stung by a jellyfish while scuba diving of the California coast was interrupted when a sleepy Grace and Joe entered into the dining room.

"What's wrong, darling," Martin asked as he pulled his daughter into his lap and cradled her tired body, "Getting sleepy?"

She nodded her head as Amanda stood, "I'll put them to bed sweetie."

Martin gently transferred the tired child to her mothers arms. Amanda brought the two children around to Benedict and I, "Say goodnight to Uncle Ben and Miss Amanda." Benedict hugged Joe goodnight then stood to kiss the sleeping girls head, "Goodnight kids" I said as Amanda led them out of the room and down the hall to their rooms.

"And with that said Martin," Benedict said as he offered me his hand and pulled me up from my chair, "I think I had better be getting Amanda home."

In all the enjoyment of talking with the three of them, I didn't even realize just how tired I actually was.

"Yeah, I'm pretty knackered," I said stretching sleepily, "but it was so nice to meet you all!

"You too," Martin said with a smile.

"We should do this again."

"As soon as possible," Amanda assured me as she and Martin rose from their chairs and led the way to the front door.

Martin shook my hand and hugged Benedict while Amanda kissed us both on the cheeks, "Now you go home and drink some tea and rest, Benedict. You have a long week ahead of you," she said as we made our way to the car, waving goodbye one final time.

We had a good twenty minute ride to my house so being far to tired to talk anymore, I seized the opportunity to close my eyes and rest.

When what felt like an eternity later, Benedict woke me from my dreamless sleep.

"Amanda," he whispered as he gently as rubbed my shoulder; I was almost tempted to keep my eyes closed just so he would keep doing it, "Amanda, we made it to your house."

Regrettably, I slowly opened my eyes to see the worried face of Benedict looking down on me.

"Wow, I haven't had that good of a nap since I slept in algebra class freshman year. It felt so long."

"Well, I did take a bit of a thirty minute detour to give you more time to sleep. You were out like a baby as soon as I started driving."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be so much trouble," I sighed embarrassingly.

"No, no, it's really no trouble at all. I really like being with you."

Benedict got out of the car and rounded it to open my door. I got out of the car, took one step and instantly became incredibly dizzy, the combination of sleepiness and alcohol was overwhelming. Benedict caught me as I nearly toppled over.

"How many glasses of wine did I have?" I said as I clung to his shirt, my head still reeling.

"Three or four," Benedict chuckled, "I lost count."

"Well it was really good wine!"

"Yes it was. You picked a good one."

He placed his arm around my waist and draped mine over his neck trying to steady me as we began walking to the front door. Finding the right key to my flat and actually unlocking the door was proving to be impossible in the state I was in so Benedict went ahead and did it for me.

"Listen," Benedict signed as I stumbled into the entry way, "maybe I should make sure that you get into bed safely. I don't want you accidentally hurting yourself."

I raised no objections to his offer as I proceeded to lead him into my flat.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This is a lovely home," Benedict complimented as we made it into my room.

"Thank you," I said, "I should probably get dressed for bed. Feel free to make yourself at home while you wait.

I unlatched myself from him and stumbled into my walk-in closet, closing the door behind me

A few minutes later, I emerged dressed rather sloppily in a nightgown to find Benedict seated on the edge of my bed, a picture frame in his hands.

He smiled as he saw me, and I took a seat next to him in the bed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to move your picture but I just saw it on the night stand and it was a really good photo."

"It's alright, I don't mind my things being touched or moved around. I'm a messy person, remember?"

The photo was of me in Mexico with three parakeets perched my arms outside of a seaside resort hotel. A tall, sandy blonde haired boy stood beside me, his arm wrapped around my waist.

"So who is this? An old boyfriend?" Benedict said with a playful nudge.

"Hardly," I laughed, "it's my older brother, Tyler. We were there in Mexico by ourselves for my senior year trip and it was probably the best vacation I've ever had! Funny enough, not twenty minutes after this picture was taken, me and Tyler went snorkeling and I accidentally stepped on a poisonous sea urchin and I had to be taken to the hospital. I'm pretty sure Tyler was more terrified than I was, poor thing. Good thing it wasn't to serious but I do have an impressive scar on the bottom of my foot from the torn they had to dig out."

"Wow. Stung by a jellyfish, stepped on a sea urchin... You just seem to be a magnet for injury."

"Eh, I'd like to think that each of my misfortunes just gives me another great story to tell."

"That's a really nice way to think about it," Benedict smiled to me.

I couldn't help but notice how handsome he looked when he smiled and his eyes crinkled. Come to think of it, now that I was this close to him, I noticed features on him that I hadn't before...

My eyes became fixated on his Cupid bow lips. I probably looked incredibly stupid just staring at his lips but I couldn't help it... They were so enticing. Without even thinking, I lowered my head to meet my lips to his. It was nothing more than a peck, but Benedict was still surprised when I pulled away from him.

"I'm so sorry," I laughed drunkenly as I laid my head on his shoulder, "I'm not usually like this."

"Must be the wine," Benedict chuckled, "your pretty pissed right now. I'm kind of surprised that you were able to dress yourself without passing out."

I closed my eyes and smiled. Benedict took notice to this and immediately shifted his body so one arm wrapped around my back.

"Ready for bed, Amanda?" He whispered. Benedict probably didn't mean for his statement to sound naughty, but by god, it did.

Suddenly to tired to answer, I nodded my head. Benedict moved out from under my limp body and gently laid my head down on my pillow as he pulled the duvet over my body.

"Goodnight Amanda," he whispered as he combed his fingers through my hair.

Before I had even heard Benedict leave, I fell into one of the deepest sleeps that I had had in a very long time.


End file.
